2019/12/11 by Sreejith Santhosh, Mehrana R. Nejad, Amin Doostmohammadi +2 · 44 citations
Mathematics · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Biaxial nematic #Condensed matter physics #Geometry #Instability #Isotropy #Liquid crystal #Materials science #Mathematics #Mechanics #Micro and Nano Robotics #Optics #Perpendicular #Perturbation (astronomy) #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Spaceflight effects on biology #Wave vector #cond-mat.soft #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10955-020-02497-0
published in Journal of Statistical Physics 180(1-6), 699-709 (Springer Science+Business Media)
arxiv created 2019/12/11 · openalex publication_date 2020/02/12 · openalex created_date 2020/02/24 · arxiv updated 2020/03/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We use linear stability analysis to show that an isotropic phase of elongated particles with dipolar flow fields can develop nematic order as a result of their activity. We argue that ordering is favoured if the particles are flow-aligning and is strongest if the wavevector of the order perturbation is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the nematic director. Numerical solutions of the hydrodynamic equations of motion of an active nematic confirm the results. The instability is contrasted to the well-known hydrodynamic instability of an ordered active nematic.